
Tags: Tennis, Anhelina Kalinina, Beatriz Haddad Maia, Belinda Bencic, Caroline Garcia, Danielle Collins, Daria Kasatkina, Elisabetta Cocciaretto, Lauren Davis, Paula Badosa, Petra Kvitova, Sofia Kenin
Veronika Kudermetova saved five match points as she beat Danielle Collins to reach the Adelaide International 2 semi-finals before Belinda Bencic knocked Caroline Garcia out.
Sixth seed Kudermetova showed great defiance to defeat American Collins 4-6 7-6 (7-5) 6-1 on Thursday.
Kudermetova fended off five match points when serving to stay in the tournament at 6-5 down in the second set and duly forced a tie-break.
Collins, runner-up to Ash Barty in the Australian Open final last year, took a 3-0 lead in the breaker, but back came her Russian opponent to level the match.
The world number nine dominated the deciding set to seal a meeting with Bencic in the last four.
Eighth seed Bencic got the better of WTA Finals champion Garcia 6-2 3-6 6-4.
Garcia broke straight back after going 3-1 down in the final set, but Bencic broke for the fourth time in the match to go through.
Paula Badosa and Daria Kasatkina will contest the other semi-final after beating Beatriz Haddad Maia and Petra Kvitova respectively.
Elisabetta Cocciaretto saved two match points as she came from a set down to beat Bernarda Pera 5-7 7-6 (10-8) 6-4 in the quarter-finals of the Hobart International.
The 21-year-old Italian will now face 2020 Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin, who also stormed back to defeat Anhelina Kalinina 4-6 6-3 6-1.
Lauren Davis and Anna Blinkova will do battle in the other semi-final following wins over Wang Xinyu and Yulia Putintseva respectively.